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League of Eight Provinces
The League of Eight Provinces (Chinese:八省聯合), sometimes referred to as the Southern Zhili Clique (Chinese: 南直系軍閥), is a loose confederation of Chinese provincial governments centered around its leader, League-Marshal Sun Chuanfang, who declared its formation in 1925. The Eight Provinces are defined by their close association with, and formal subservience to, the Central Government in Beijing, paired with their desire to maintain a high degree of functional autonomy. Beyond the advantage of their collective strength, this seemingly contradictory status is enabled by a series of informal agreements with the German AOG, which provides material aid in return for land-leasing rights and other privileges across the League. Within China, the League is bordered to the north by the territory of the Central Government and the Shandong Clique; to the east by the East China Sea; to the south by the South China Sea, and to the West by the Yunnan and Sichuan Cliques. Informal AOG concessions exist at Nantong, Wenzhou, Xiamen (Amoy), and Guangdong (Canton). History The defeat of the Northern Expedition in 1927 left the Zhili Clique united but fractured, as uneasiness grew between its Northern and Southern factions, led by Wu Peifu and Sun Chuanfang respectively. Though formally allies, a clearly unequal relationship existed between the two, with Wu Peifu’s new Qing government in Beijing declaring itself solely legitimate, and Sun Chuanfang forced to accept this turn of events. Neither was happy with the arrangement, but Fengtian and Shanxi remained for Wu to contend with, and Sun bore the slow task of integrating the former Kuomintang provinces of Guangdong, Guangxi, and Hunan into his originally five-province League. German support flowed first to Wu, strengthening his position immeasurably, but upon their withdrawal and his utter refusal to accept further foreign concessions, this changed. Seeking to counterbalance Northern strength and maintain autonomy, Sun agreed to a series of increasingly exploitative deals with the German East Asia Society (later the AOG), ceding land in coastal ports to exclusive German economic development in return for arms and capital. As a series of tacit agreements instead of formal treaties, these various concessions allowed Sun and the Germans to sidestep both Wu, who maintained his strong stand against further concessions, and the terms of the Shanghai Conference of 1928, which enshrined the “Open Door Policy” of open and equal access to the Chinese market. Though German aid strengthened Sun’s position vis-a-vis Wu and his Northern Zhili, it came to have a series of serious repercussions. The Germans were not content to deal only with Sun Chuanfang, and soon their money found its way into the pockets of his subordinates, often in return for favors. Soldiers and officials at almost every level of the hierarchy, many already predisposed to corruption, became complicit in everything from arms smuggling to the stolen antiquities trade. As its generals grew fat and rich, the League’s popular support plummeted, culminating in the bloody affair later known as the “Shanghai Uprising”. With the failure of the Northern Expedition to take Shanghai in 1927, the insurrectionist forces there retreated into hiding; conserving their strength and waiting for a new and better opportunity. By 1932 a combination of restlessness and disgust at blatant corruption had spurred these forces back into action, and in alignment with agrarian KMT remnants in the countryside, they launched a general uprising in and around Shanghai; sparking similar risings in Nanjing, Wuhan, and several cities along the Southeastern Coast. Though the movement floundered and failed within a matter of weeks, crushed in large part thanks to a vicious crackdown in Shanghai by General Chen Yi, it is considered by many to have set the stage for future conflicts in China and highlighted fundamental flaws in the settlement reached by the Shanghai Conference of 1928. In light of these factors, and in spite of some others, Sun Chuanfang has since attempted to consolidate his power wherever possible, reducing the autonomy of his generals, and building his strength in Nanjing. Geography Jiangsu With its southern half partially comprising the immensely prosperous Lower Yangtze Region, and its northern portions bordering Shandong, Jiangsu is a province of contrasts; a notoriously poor and rowdy north, with a wealthy and cultured south. The provincial governor, Zheng Junyuan, has built his stronghold in the northern city of Xuzhou, at the crucial juncture between the major North-South and East-West lines between Beijing, Shanghai, and Luoyang, and in a position far from Sun Chuanfang’s seat of power in Nanjing. As a result of his positioning, Zheng has managed to secure a fair amount of autonomy by playing Sun, Wu Peifu, and the Germans off of each other for safe and reliable access to the railroad. He also maintains a rivalry with Zhang Zongchang over control of the north-south line and is known to have sent a number of notices to Nanjing concerning a troubling spread of the Yiguandao faith. The Southernmost portions of the province, though technically part of Zheng’s domain, have de-facto fallen under the sway of Sun Chuanfang and his second-in-command Qi Xieyuan, and all three generals levy taxes from the area. Despite this, they also lie within Shanghai’s economic sphere, indirectly leading to almost unprecedented levels of growth and industrialization along the Yangtze, especially in the cities of Wuxi, Suzhou, Changzhou, and Nantong. If considered a single region along with Nanjing, Shanghai, and northern portions of Zhejiang, this can be classed as the second largest industrial center in East Asia, ahead of Southern Manchuria and behind Japan. Zhejiang Zhejiang might be considered the geographic and economic inverse of Jiangsu, with a small but wealthy north and desperately poor southern regions. Though it borders Shanghai and some cities of the North China Plain, the province is very much a part of China’s South, as the delta rapidly transitions into the rough mountains characteristic of the lands below the Yangtze. Hangzhou, the province’s capital, is also governor Chen Yi’s base of power, though it was not always this way. Lu Xiangting served as governor of the province until his refusal to suppress the Shanghai Uprising in 1932, and his replacement with Chen Yi proved to be a locally unpopular move. Though Chen himself is not particularly susceptible to bribes, he routinely ignores his subordinate’s abuses in order to quench dissent, and only a few regiments of soldiers could be considered truly loyal to his person despite his reputation as a harsh disciplinarian. Anhui Of all eight provinces, Anhui lies most squarely on the North China Plain, and as such consists mostly of rural farmland. Consequently, the province has managed to largely avoid German attention, resulting in a somewhat different attitude toward foreigners among the soldiery and population; less resentment but also less collaboration. Anhui and its people are far poorer than their coastal neighbors and lack almost any industry outside the Yangtze valley. The cities of Wuhu and Ma’anshan, within the valley, have recently been directly linked to Shanghai by way of a narrow-gauge German railway built at the start of the decade, leading to the exploitation of a coalfield at Huainan and the construction of a steelworks nearby. This German presence has led to levels of growth and an outlook largely shared with the coastal regions. Anhui’s governor, Chen Tiaoyuan, is well respected and known for his opposition to Sun Chuanfang’s collaborative approach to German diplomacy. In recent years, this has forced Chen to walk a fine line but earned him the regard of both his immediate subordinates and like-minded generals across the League. Though not as well equipped as the German-trained Nanjing divisions, Chen’s troops are hardy and dedicated. Jiangxi As an inland province, Jiangxi shares a number of traits with its neighbor to the north, chief among them a predominantly poor and rural population. Much of the province has never truly recovered from the widespread destruction of the Taiping rebellion, and even after seventy years, the ruins of abandoned cities can sometimes be glimpsed amid the mountains. Unlike Anhui however, Jiangxi has not quite escaped German attention. With virtually nonexistent infrastructure and few direct paths to the coast, the city of Nanchang and its surrounds are the planned terminus of the new Zhegan Railway, linking the city to Shanghai and opening up a significant new market in the Chinese interior, as well as to the exploitation of natural resources. Of particular interest to the Germans is the city of Jingdezhen, the porcelain from which has been able to fetch high prices in Berlin, along with the fruits of other less-legitimate pursuits such as the stolen antiquities trade. So far, the new railway has been built with primarily German financing, though there are rumors that the Germans mean to purchase the railway in its entirety; rumors likely lending strength to the KMT’s supporters hiding in in the province’s south. Fujian Fujian, by far the most mountainous and impoverished of the Eight Provinces, has also long been notorious for its banditry. Though generous aid from Nanjing has helped governor Zhou Yinren establish a greater degree of control over the province than he and his predecessors had last decade, much of it remains in a state of near-anarchy. A narrow band of coastline constitutes the majority of the area under his rule, and the cities of Quanzhou, Fuzhou, and Xiamen (Amoy) show a heavy German presence, with the latter two settlements possessing substantial AOG concessions. Despite small “islands” of control inland, such as the cities of Sanming and Nanping, the rest of the province has fallen to minor bandit leaders and, especially in the south, an agrarian-socialist remnant of the KMT. These rebels, occasionally raiding the coastal settlements, have so far resisted two punitive expeditions aiming to dislodge them. Politics Due to its status as a regional confederation of military governments with even fewer democratic commitments than the national-level Qing or Fengtian governments, the League of Eight Provinces can be considered a consensus-driven oligarchy at best and a kleptocratic dictatorship at worst. None of its internal factions are organized political parties and are instead a mix of both formal and informal organizations better-resembling interest groups or lobbies. The vast majority of power is held by the provincial governors, topped only by the League-Marshal himself. Power struggles between these governors and the League-Marshal, as well as between the governors themselves, are not uncommon and surfaced prominently during the 1932 Shanghai Uprising. Governors Factions * Nanjing Clique - The Nanjing Clique serves as the core of the Southern-Zhili faction and Sun Chuanfang’s power base. Its members, mostly military, are spread across the League and include governors Zheng Junyan, Chen Yi, Deng Ruzuo, and Zhou Yinren who form the Marshal’s inner circle. General Qi Xieyuan, though not a governor, also commands a great deal of respect. * Anqing Clique - An informal collection of subordinate officers and local leaders sharing Anhui Governor Chen Tiaoyuan’s belief that German influence must be resisted. At present its size is small and its cohesion limited, but certain events could change this very quickly. The Clique shares some goals with the Vermillion Society and the Jiangnan Consortium, although its informal nature has thus far prevented any significant collaboration. Military Economy Culture See also * German Empire * Aufsichtsrat der Ostasiatische Generalverwaltung * Qing Empire * Shandong Clique * Sichuan Clique * Yunnan Clique Category:Countries Category:Asian countries Category:Chinese-related topics